I might be totally wrong but those look like GM retainers, not any Comp retainers that I have ever seen. Every Comp retainer aside from titanium is black and the GM ones are that grey/silver that appears to be what you have on your heads. You might ask the guy who assembled your heads to verify that those are really aftermarket retainers...

 

You have a cam tho and prolly new lifters. This is on a 100% stock motor.

 

Let me clarify my statement.

On my last bone stock LT1, when I installed LT4 springs and CC 1.6 Promags I had to change from the stock 7.200" rods to to 7.050" rods to maintain correct geometry.

Before I checked rod length I lost a valve because I was stupid due to bad rocker geometry. Again the short block, heads and cam were all stock.

 

I just comes a surprise that for years I've been on here and everyones like....Yep 1.6rr's,lt4 springs, lt4 locks, retainers and your set!.

Not until this one thread have I ever heard anyone say anything about checking geometry and or measuring for this setup. Thats why I am skeptical.

BTW I have run 1.6rr's lt4 everything on my 93 LT1 w/ stock pushrods and it seemed to run fine..and I ran it hard..

Anyways.. Whats the best way to measure?

 

after i took the pictures i noticed this. the springs i gave my machine shop were dual springs...looks like my engine builder skimped on parts. too bad he no longer works there. i went there yesterday. he's long gone. i wonder now if he re-used the stock lifters. or even if i have a 383...could be a355...for all i know he could have taken all my parts and installed a cam, i wouldnt know.

appears that i'm not the only one with complaints. he's had tons of come-backs in the past 2 years. i wasted my money and parts, not to mention time.

go to a reputable machine shop...he was recommended to me, but now i regret not spending the other thousand at the other machine shop in marleton nj...or pemberton...either way, i would have an engine that still worked...and would have all the parts i gave the guy to use.

 

In the first photo you posted, look at the third rocker/spring/retainer - third one from the left.

That missing piece of retainer is characteristic of what happens when the underside of the rocker arm rides on the retainer.

I'll bet that if you look at the underside of the rockers you'll see witness marks between the roller tip and the trunnion.

If the underside of the rocker rides against the retainer it'll unload the locks/keepers; that's when the carnage begins.

Jake

 

Here is a good post I had on rocker geometry.
http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462630

Replace both of your #1 valve springs with very very soft springs from a hardware store, make sure they dont compress the lifters. Paint the tops of the valve stems with a sharpy marker and install the rockers.

Pull the coil wire and injector fuses. Crank the motor over so the rockers bounce several times and check the pattern. ideally the pattern should be centered on the valve stem, mine was badly off set towards the header and trash a valve.

Why was my motor different than everyone else's, who the hell knows? Just make sure you check your geometry.

 

the only rocker with damage was the one pulled. i checked the others, there's nothing but some odd wear on the roller...on ONE only. but yeah. there's like 4 other retainers that are cracked. the 5th was the broken one. mostly on the exhaust side...wonder why it's just the exhaust